Joint Base Charleston, S.C. –
The 628th Air Base Wing has selected a new command chief and with that selection, Chief Master Sgt. Jason Colón brings 30 years of service and knowledge along with him, a mixture of Active Duty, Air National Guard and Reserve.
Rising through the ranks as a special operations weather technician, Colón attributed a lot of his success to seasoned leaders and supervision early on in his career.
“Throughout my time in service I’ve had great supervisors and commanders that have taught me the importance of knowing your job,” said Colón. “During my immersion I loved seeing how the Airmen here present their jobs from their perspectives and seeing what direct impact they have on the mission.”
Colón was six when his father joined the Air Force and was stationed in Spain. Because of this, Colón learned, and is still fluent in, Spanish.
“When my father got orders to Europe, we spent four years in Spain, then subsequently two years in Germany, followed by four more years in Spain,” said Colón. “While I was in school in Spain, half of the classes were in English and the other half were in Spanish. The Spanish came in handy when I was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) deploying to Central and South America in support of Counter-Drug and Foreign Internal Defense mission sets.”
Colón joined the Air Force when his father received orders to Italy and ‘highly recommended’ his son to fly the nest.
“I was going to community college while my father was stationed at Andrews AFB when my father got orders to Italy,” said Colón. “He and my mother broke the news that I wouldn’t be going with them, so I made the decision to go down to the recruiter’s office.”
Although the Air Force Specialty Code has been known by many names, Colón was a SOWT and said he has really enjoyed his time in service.
“It turns out I was quite a weather geek,” said Colon. “I was really interested in the science of my job and seeing how much something like weather impacted every mission and society as a whole.”
Colón is no stranger to serving in joint environments like Joint Base Charleston. He has served jointly both at home-station and deployed.
“This is actually not my first joint base, I was stationed at Langley Air Force Base when it transitioned into Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, and also worked in joint environments at different points in my career,” said Colón.
Throughout his 30 years of service Colón says he has learned a lot about the military and himself.
“Early on in my career I was not a ‘fast-burner,’” said Colón. “I learned after a while that I needed to start controlling the things it was possible for me to control. Each of us have our own paths, and we don’t know what that path will look like until we are able look back.”
Colón says his personal mission is to develop genuine relationships with the people he leads and serves with.
“While I’m here, I hope to get to know as many Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, Coast Guardsmen and Marines as possible and on a more meaningful level each time I see them. Most people say they have an open door policy… I truly do. I have water and green tea in my refrigerator and welcome anyone to come in and talk,” he said.
Although no two chiefs have the same career trajectory, Colón had one piece of advice for anyone who hopes to one day earn their eighth stripe.
“If you’re doing your job 100 percent, someone will notice,” said Colón. “It’s not the job you have, it’s the job you do…whatever job you have, do it to the best of your ability.”